Prof. Park Chang-geun of Kwandong University, right, shows a mud sample from the bottom of the Yeongsan River in Naju, South Jeolla Province, Tuesday. Environmentalists claim that the ecosystems of the nation's major rivers have been destroyed since builders removed a great deal of sand from the rivers under the four-river refurbishment project. / Yonhap

Opposition party calls for National Assembly investigation

By Lee Hyo-sik

The former Lee Myung-bak administration overlooked and even encouraged collusion among builders in a bid to speed up completion of the controversial four-river restoration project, according to a local construction company.

A recent ruling by the Seoul High Court made public Tuesday, showed that Samsung Construction and Trade (C&T) insisted in court that the government knowingly overlooked collusion among construction firms participating in the 22-trillion won scheme from 2010 to 2011.

The construction arm of the Samsung Group claimed that the former Lee administration even encouraged participating builders to collude for the quick completion of the restoration scheme on Korea's four major rivers — the Han, Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan.

''The government asked builders to engage in multiple sections of the four-river scheme simultaneously so that the work could be completed within former President Lee's term,'' said Samsung C&T, according to court documents. ''This created an environment in which firms had no choice but to collude. The government also turned a blind eye to the practice in order to have builders finish the project as quickly as possible.''

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a combined 111.6 billion won fine last year on the eight builders for colluding together. Samsung C&T was slapped with a 10.3 billion won fine.

To protest the fine, the eight firms filed a lawsuit with the court, asking it to nullify the FTC ruling. But both lower and appeals courts ruled against the builders over the past year. The companies have now taken the case to the Supreme Court.

According to court documents, Samsung was the only one among the eight plaintiffs that claimed the government was partly responsible for the collusion.

Meanwhile, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is calling for a parliamentary probe into the four-river scheme to confirm allegations that it has worsened the water quality in the rivers.

The move was prompted by the recent discovery of comb-mouthed bryozoa, which is widely found in polluted stagnant water.

''The moss animal was found to have formed a colony in Geum, Nakdong and Yeongsan rivers. Environment protection groups are saying that the water flow has been slowed by the controversial restoration scheme, deteriorating the rivers' water quality,'' a NPAD spokesman Yoo Ki-hong said. ''The discovery of bryozoa clearly proves that the 16 weirs constructed on the four rivers have contributed to deteriorating the water quality.''

Yoo added that former President Lee's ''pet'' project has destroyed the rivers' ecological systems and wasted taxpayers' money. ''The National Assembly should launch an investigation into the scheme to reveal the truth behind it. Former President Lee should also be questioned.''